BRITISH holidaymakers heading abroad for summer sun were warned yesterday that the pound could ­continue falling after it hit a four-month low against the dollar.

Sterling slipped below the $1.50 mark to $1.4991, the weakest since mid-March, as traders responded to the Bank of England’s surprise statement on Thursday that markets had been “wrong to assume interest rates would go up anytime soon”. Strong US jobs data later in the day also helped strengthen the greenback.

The euro was up 0.5 per cent against sterling at 86p.

Analysts now expect the cost of ­borrowing in the UK to remain at 0.5 per cent until 2016 with some ­suggesting that new governor Mark Carney could even press the button on a new round of quantitative easing next month after the Bank said the UK’s economic recovery remained “weak by historical standards”.

Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International, said: “Carney was attempting to ensure that market expectations remain more focused on the UK economy than on the US. He wanted to draw attention to the fact that the recovery is very fragile. That leaves the pound weaker.”

Other analysts warned that the value of sterling could fall even further. Even though this is good news for UK exporters as their goods become cheaper for foreign buyers it is bad news for tourists wanting to splash out on sangria and paella on their foreign summer holidays.

The pound looks shaky and it could go a little bit lower but I think it has now found the level it was meant to get to.

Lee McDarby, of Investec Corporate Treasury

Nawaz Ali, market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions, said: “An unusual statement with guidance was proof for sterling bears that Carney’s arrival will mark the start of monetary activism. Investors have every reason to anticipate a change in monetary policy in the coming months which will mean more downside for sterling.”

Lee McDarby, of Investec Corporate Treasury, said: “Surprises can rock the market and Thursday’s statement caught it off guard. The pound looks shaky and it could go a little bit lower but I think it has now found the level it was meant to get to. It is a case of wait and see.”

He added that sterling’s value against the euro could rise over the next couple of weeks as the markets’ focus returns to fears in the eurozone. “The pound could hide behind the rocks and drift back up,” he said.

Broker Charles Stanley said that concerns were rising about Portugal and Greece but also the much larger French economy which it said was in an “increasingly desperate plight”.

It added: “France will have to ­borrow yet more capital from abroad thus its next external debt as a percentage of GDP will continue to rise from ­prevailing levels.”